Who is Tottenham’s £5m transfer deadline day signing Dele Alli?

Premier League top four chances Tottenham (11/2) were one of the busiest clubs on transfer deadline day, as they tried to offload the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Etienne Capoue, captain Younes Kaboul and Aaron Lennon – the latter joined Everton on loan. While Benoit Assou-Ekotto was released from his contract.

However, one player did move to White Hart Lane in Dele Alli, from MK Dons for £5m on a five-and-a-half-year contract, although he has been loaned back until the summer.

But who is this young starlet that has been dubbed the ‘new Steven Gerrard’ by many?

With a name like Alli, surely he is destined for stardom, and this 18-year-old has already been tearing up League One from midfield, smashing in 12 goals and claiming three assists from 27 games this term so far.

On top of that, he was the driving force behind his hometown club MK Dons’ 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United in the Capital One Cup earlier in the season.

Alli, a Liverpool and Gerrard fan, who is also an England Under-19 international, was scouted by the Reds, Newcastle United as well as Bayern Munich, but in the end chose to stay in the south of England at a club where youth players from Spurs’ academy are getting game time. The likes of Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend have featured this term.

MK Dons has certainly become a hotbed for young talent being snapped up by bigger clubs, with starlets such as Seyi Ojo (now Liverpool), Brendan Galloway (Everton), George Williams (Fulham), Danny Collinge (Stuttgart) and Kevin Danso (Augsburg) having moved on.

So Alli becomes the next prospect to leave Stadium:MK, and what Tottenham are getting is a complete midfielder, who is streets ahead in terms of ability for someone his age. He is good on the ball, likes a tackle and his tenacity is any manager’s dream.

On his move to north London, Alli said: “It’s a massive club and I’m really happy to be here. I’d love to play for Spurs and at White Hart Lane.”

“It won’t be easy and I’ll have to fight for my place in the team but I’ll work hard to do that.”

MK Dons boss Karl Robinson, meanwhile, said: “His stats speak for themselves. His goals, his assists – he’s a remarkable footballer and we wish him all the look in the world.

“We are immensely proud of Dele. He is one of many young and talented players to have progressed through the youth system here, which proves that the chairman’s vision of providing local children with a step into professional football is paying off.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to re-sign Dele and keep him with us for the rest of the season. Hopefully both he and us can share some more moments that will last a lifetime, before he moves on.”

We won’t be seeing Alli in the Premier League just yet, but expect Mauricio Pochettino to blood him into the first team next season. Hopefully this isn’t another case similar to John Bostock, though…